“The indictment of Rep. Fattah, if proven, provides another sad example of the kind of conduct we should never see from the officials we send to represent us in Washington. The Department’s allegations of bribes for favors, illegal campaign loans, misallocation of federal grants to pay campaign expenses, and use of campaign funds for personal expenses paint a picture of a public official using his office to benefit himself, his friends, family, and financial benefactors – rather than the public.

CREW has written about Rep. Fattah’s conduct in the past and has monitored this investigation. We applaud the Justice Department for building on the indictment of Sen. Menendez this spring to establish a pattern of more aggressively enforcing corruption laws, and we hope the Department continues to act strongly to hold office holders accountable when they abuse their offices.”

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Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is a non-profit legal watchdog group dedicated to holding public officials accountable for their actions and reducing the influence of money in politics. For more information, please visit www.citizensforethics.org.

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